Russia often complains about its waning influence and says it gets no respect from the
West. But respect has to be earned, and so far, Moscow is far from worthy.

The reaction to Latvia's attempt to charge former Soviet officials with crimes against
humanity is a case in point. Russia's ambassador to Latvia called it "a witch
hunt" of sick old men.

Indeed, two men charged this week are 77 and 85 years old. Mikhails Farbtuhs, in the
process of appealing his conviction, is 83.

No complaints from Moscow, however, when the subject turns to suspected Nazi war criminals
such as Aleksandrs Lileikis in Lithuania, who is 92. (Former Nazi officials should be
tried as well, and to be fair, the Balts ought to show that they understand this as well).

Sadly, Russian hypocrisy is visible in Moscow's every move. In 1998, when a handful of
Latvian police used their batons to disperse a pensioners' protest in Riga, Russia roared
with anger and successfully portrayed Latvia as a neo-fascist state.

But when Belarusian thugs in riot gear savagely beat demonstrators in Minsk this month,
barely a whimper from Russia. It was Belarus' internal affair, said Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov.

When NATO went to war in Yugoslavia earlier this year, Boris Yeltsin and Yevgeny Primakov
said Russia was "morally superior" to the Americans.

After Russian missals leveled a central market in Grozny last week, spilling the blood of
hundreds of innocent women and children, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia didn't
do it. Then, he said it was the work of warring bandit gangs.

Latvia has every right to try former Soviet officials involved in one of the two waves of
deportation in 1941 and 1949 that decimated Latvia's population.

Russia should be trying its own KGB operatives for the crimes committed against the
Russian people in this century. But there, the KGB still exits, though it goes by a new
name, and former officials sit in high places - the prime minister's chair for one.

The Soviets may not have planned to exterminate all Latvians, but they did want to subdue
and Russify them. And in the process, the regime committed crimes against humanity by
deporting and murdering innocent people simply for their nationality or politics. Who in
today's world, so intent on proving how enlightened and democratic it is, could deny this
is a crime? Otherwise, what was the war in Kosovo all about?

Baltic leaders are often asked what they are doing to improve relations with Russia. But
maybe it is time for Moscow to talk about what it is doing. A little free advice: Start by
apologizing for the illegal occupation of these countries in 1940. Doing anything less
breeds insecurity and tells the Baltic people that the terrible past can be repeated.